BA Season 3: 45 'On Angel's Wings'
by The Barracuda
Summary: In attempting to deal with her pain, Delilah meets a young, hospitalized girl. When waking from a deep slumber one night, the young girl opens her eyes to see a white-wnged woman standing over her, and convinces herself she has seen an angel.


  
  
45 - "On Angel's Wings"  
Originally Written: February 22nd, 2001  
  
...Dedicated to all those who have lost loved ones in their lives...  
...They're never gone, for they live forever in our hearts...  
...And for my dad, lost when I was a child, but always looking down on me...  
  
July 7th, 2001  
"Delilah? Are you here?" asked the grated rasp of the dark warrior, as he entered through  
the wooden door, to find his love's bedroom in an ever continuing state of change. She  
had been furiously rearranging her new living quarters to suit her needs, and now Shadow  
thought, that something was wrong. It was becoming an impulsive act, almost an  
obsession now, to the point he was worried of his blossom's erratic behavior. "Delilah?"  
  
"I'm right here, Shadow." she answered, stepping from the small closet on the far side of  
the room. "Just hanging some of my clothes..." Her voice was quiet, and even with  
Shadow's powerful hearing, could he barely make her out.  
  
"I see you are still making this room as you see fit, my blossom." Shadow idly  
commented, seeing a sly grin form, then swiftly fall away from her supple lips. "I  
thought you would be finished by now."  
  
"Almost."  
  
He watched her continue in her task, as she resettled some of her porcelain figures  
around on the wooden shelves, ensuring each was in the perfect place. Shadow lowered  
his brow, and released an angered sigh. For the last week, she had been subdued in any  
emotional response, and spent each night brooding, mostly alone by her own choice.   
Even the grand celebration of July fourth barely broke the scowl in her lovely facade, and  
he was growing increasingly upset with her ever fading spirit. "Delilah," he growled,  
"something is wrong."  
  
Delilah immediately froze in place, yet never turned her eyes to his own, knowing she  
would perhaps break down in a teared rage when crossing upon his deep mahogany stare.  
  
Shadow approached her, and caressed his strong hands about her shoulders, left bare, as  
her jacket, almost an exacting replica of Elisa's own scarlet coat, had been discarded due  
the warmer weather. "Please tell me..."  
  
"It's nothing..." she whispered.  
  
"That is not true, and you know it. You have been hiding yourself away, flying solo  
patrols, I barely see you anymore." He tightened his grip, and pressed her close. "I am  
worried. This is not like you."  
  
She pushed away from him, and came close to stumbling and falling over as she quickly  
made her way from Shadow's stead. "I told you it's nothing." she snapped back, her  
voice rife with her anger and torment. Shadow rushed to her, yet she once again shoved  
him away. "Leave me alone!"  
  
"Why?!" he yelled back. "What have I done to upset you?"  
  
Delilah at last turned to face him, this time surprising the warrior, and even scaring him,  
when she faced him with twin trails of tears slowly crawling their way down her copper  
skin. "You always think it's you, don't you? You always think that you're the one who's  
imperfect in this relationship. But never are you actually the cause of the pain. It's me.   
It's always me, your flawed clone lover. With the mind of a child, the mixed genes of  
two women and without a soul of her own. You have no idea of what you have gotten  
yourself into, how this relationship will only end up causing you pain, and anguish..."  
  
Shadow's eyes fell wide open, as Delilah edged back from him, as if he was a demon.   
"Why...why are you saying this? You know I love you, and have never thought of you  
that way. Ever."  
  
"You should get away from me now, Shadow, before you regret it. Before all your hopes  
and dreams come crashing down, just like mine have..." With that last abrasive whisper,  
she stole from the room, leaving Shadow there, bewildered by her choice of words, and  
unable to ever imagine what had actually happened to his love.  
  
He bolted for the door in a moment of clarity, and followed the path of her scent, until a  
door opened in his course and he narrowly missed slamming into Elisa with six hundred  
pounds of dark gargoyle.  
  
"Whoa, Shadow!!" she screamed as he came to a screeching halt, just before toppling her  
slender form. "What the hell?!"  
  
"Elisa-chan, I am sorry," he frantically cried, "but, Delilah...she...we had an...altercation,  
I suppose, and she ran from her room..."  
  
"I guess this had something to do with her behavior in the last week or so..." Elisa asked  
of the massive gargoyle.  
  
"Yes, I only wanted to find out what was wrong, and she..." he paused, recollecting the  
pain present in Delilah's haunting eyes. "I've never heard her speak that way. It seemed  
as if her entire world had been taken away in one fell swoop."  
  
Elisa nodded, and placed a hand to her chin. "She's been acting weird, just like  
Lexington. She's also been spending a lot of time with Trini, and I mean a lot. She'll  
take every opportunity to be with her, feeding her, giving her baths... I don't know,  
maybe leaving the Labyrinth was harder for her than we thought. She had a lot of human  
friends down there, especially the children."  
  
"But she told me when she moved in, that she loved living here," Shadow countered, "it  
was perhaps the best thing that has happened to her for a long time. She knew she could  
always visit the Labyrinth dwellers when they moved into the new shelter, and was  
extremely happy for your brother and the others who were cured. But less than a month  
later, her mood abruptly falls, and she...I just don't know. Elisa-chan, I am worried. This  
is not like her at all..."  
  
"No, it's not. Let's give her a couple days, and if things don't improve, then we'll talk."  
  
Shadow reluctantly conceded to Elisa's notion, and wondered just where his blossom had  
fled to, and just why her heart was tormented so.  
  
****************************************  
  
She raced through the clouds as fast as her wings would allow, brushing past her slender  
form with the feeling of moist cotton. The ivory mists were sliced apart, left to reform in  
the skies behind her, and as Delilah continued on, she reveled in the wind against her  
face, forcing her gargoyle body into a few barrel rolls. A simple moment of joy, to take  
away the pain if only for a couple of seconds.  
  
Her course had been a straight line from the castle cornices, and she pondered just what  
direction her anger would take her. She was nearing a collection of buildings unused to  
her, even with repeated patrols and flights over this majestic kingdom of bright light and  
unceasing noise. A larger building fell into view, possessing a faded white exterior and  
large lighted windows. She skimmed past the surface, just inches away from the glass,  
all the while darting her eyes into the rooms beyond.  
  
A hospital, where the convalescing lay in their beds to heal in the embrace of family. Yet  
something caught her eye, and she pulled away to roll back to the window in question.   
She perched on the slight ledge offered just beneath, and peered in to where a flurry of  
activity had ensued. Her chocolate gaze fixed upon an assemblage of small bodies  
playing before her, in the children's ward of this hospital. Though sick, one would never  
be able to tell with the expression of mirth and happiness they carried upon their innocent  
faces.  
  
Delilah's stare iced over, seeing the diminutive forms race past her. She littered the  
biting wind with her tears, flooding from her eyes, and she quickly crawled away, to hide  
herself from the children. She gripped her claws into the fragile exterior, and pulled  
herself to another window near the edge of the building, where the drapes were left  
slightly open, to reveal a darkened room with a lone bed, and a lone occupant. It seemed  
as if the berth had almost swallowed this young patient into it's massive breadth, and  
Delilah took notice to perhaps one of the most beautiful children she had ever seen, aside  
from Trinity.  
  
She focused in to the girl, who looked to be about twelve years of age, with fair, brown  
hair, and a pale complexion, resting against a mass of pillows, and lay silent within the  
consuming shadows of the room. Delilah especially noticed the look of utter despair cast  
upon her young features, so similar to her own. She wondered what could have caused  
this, and why this girl was not with the other children just down the hall.  
  
She continued staring as the girl buried herself within the confines of a book, a thick  
volume that seemed far beyond her comprehension, yet she was fully engrossed in the  
pages full of thin scripting, and tore through page after page in a quick pace. Delilah's  
eyes clicked to the dresser and tables beside her, noticing the enormous pile of books  
collected. Delilah sighed, being witness to a child, obviously sick, yet either unwilling or  
perhaps unable to join the others.  
  
"Jessica?" A light voice called out, inflaming Delilah's sharp hearing even through the  
closed window, and she sunk back out of sight. The owner of the voice appeared through  
the doorway, and an older woman walked towards the girl, who only now lifted her  
attention from her captivating story. "You should be resting."  
  
"But, mom," the girl wheezed to her mother, "I was just getting to the good part."  
  
"All your friends will still be there when you open your book tomorrow," the woman  
answered, delicately lifting the thick book from her daughter's hands, and being mindful  
to mark her place, "now get some sleep."  
  
The young girl relented and allowed her mother to pull the covers over her and turn off  
the reading lamp. She turned to her side, and away from her mother's sudden change in  
appearance. From her warming smile to a heart-broken grimace, she then placed herself  
on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through her daughter's chestnut locks.  
  
Delilah took notice of the facial cast, a veil of sorrow and death afflicting the mother, as  
she looked upon her sleeping daughter. Delilah found herself intrigued by this family,  
and hoped with all of her heart this young girl was only here to heal, and not to die.  
  
****************************************  
  
July 8th  
She landed with only the sound of a snap of leather, and the light clatter of her talons  
against the surface of the building. Delilah perched herself to the window housing the  
young girl seen last night. She was unable to remove this child from her mind, and  
wished to find out just why she was trapped here, in this bed. She noticed the window,  
left open a few inches, and the hushed whispering of voices flowing into the Summer  
winds.  
  
She moved cautiously forwards, to gain sight of a trio of humans next to an empty bed.   
A doctor, and a couple, discussing a subject bringing great pain to the woman. Delilah  
steadied herself, and attempted to listen in.  
  
"...I'm sorry, Mrs. Howell, but there's nothing else we can do. The tumor is lodged with  
the cerebrum. Any attempt at surgery will only kill her, and even if she does survive,  
she'll be left severely brain-damaged."  
  
"But what about the radiation treatments?" asked the man, clutching onto his wife with  
strong arms, his voice weak.  
  
The doctor paused before answering. "Her system can't take the massive doses of  
radiation needed to kill off this tumor. I'm sorry, but I see no other alternatives...I give  
her two weeks, maybe more, but..." He stopped short, when the woman curled into the  
breadth of her husband's shoulders, and began to cry. "She's coming out of the CAT  
scan right now, and will be returned to the room in just a few minutes. She'll get  
progressively weaker as the tumor spreads, and she should...pass away peacefully. It's  
your choice whether to leave her here, or take her home. I...I'm so sorry."  
  
"Thank you, doctor." the man answered solemnly, returning his attention to the sobbing  
woman wrapped in his arms. "Shhhh, it's okay. It's okay." He tried desperately to  
amend his wife's tortured soul, yet faced with the brutal reality of her daughter's  
impending death, his words only seemed hollow, and pierced his tongue with every false  
utterance.  
  
Delilah watched the couple hold each other, until she pulled away from the window, and  
fled into the sky, unwilling to witness anymore. 'To have a child is a gift,' she thought,  
'and to have them taken away, wrenched from your arms before they have the chance to  
experience all that life can offer, is probably the cruelest joke of all.' Delilah flew on,  
escaping into the night sky, her form set against the heavens and lost within the starlight.  
  
She landed hard upon a taller building, her talons digging into the brick structure,  
sending small chunks or mortar spilling out before her. "Why?" she rasped. "Why must  
there be so much pain? So much torment? All children should have the chance to live,"  
she faltered and fell to her knees, clutching a hand over her flat stomach, "even mine."   
The tears were relentless in the charge to coat her skin, and blemish her dark blue  
leotard, hidden beneath her jacket. "Why?"  
  
****************************************  
  
July 9th  
She was here once again, the same exact spot, the same exact position, literally hanging  
from the side of the building, with nothing but a small edge jutting out to hold her. This  
small girl haunted her every waking hour, and even her dreams. She had been  
disappearing from the cornices upon the fall of evening for three days now, and even  
with Shadow calling out to her, she never paid any heed. She merely flew on, until his  
grated voice faded from her ears. She hated herself for leaving the man she loved, but  
right now, she did not need him in her life. She felt as if this pain was hers to deal with,  
hers to attack on her own, without dragging her lover into her anguish.  
  
The girl was sleeping soundly, an innocent soul wrapped in the cotton sheets and thick  
turquoise quilt of hospital issue. Delilah caressed her eyes upon the girl's heavenly  
features, deep set eyes, high cheek bones, large, pouting lips. When she grew older, she  
would blossom into a beautiful young woman. But Delilah knew now, that she may not  
make it past her next birthday. She crept closer, noticing the room was emptied, and the  
door closed. The window was open once more, for it seemed this young girl fell to sleep  
much easier with the constant, and somehow gentle droning of the city beyond these  
walls.  
  
Delilah took one last look, and used a few taloned fingers to slowly pull back the frame.   
She stepped in, barely a sound upon the tiled floor with the light steps of a feline, and she  
dropped near the curtains. No one, save the girl was here, and Delilah slowly moved  
forwards, her breath held within her chest, dreading discovery by this girl's parents or a  
visiting nurse. She approached the bedside, and drew up over the sleeping child. The  
soothing tempo of her breathing was almost hypnotic, and she lost herself in the splendor  
of a wondrous young girl and her cherub features.  
  
She lightly grazed a talon over the girl's cheek, and even felt the chill of this child's  
disease flow through her. Suddenly, she stirred. Delilah snapped her hand away, and as  
the girl turned on her back, Delilah feared she had woken her from her deep slumber.   
Large eyes fluttered open, and the gargess froze.  
  
Her vision was blurred, and only a swath of the purest white flooded her Prussian blue  
eyes. Long platinum hair, and ivory wings fell into view, and this girl now thought she  
had a celestial savior watching over her. "...a-are you...an angel?" she squeaked, trying to  
speak even through the clutches of slumber.  
  
Delilah smiled. "You should rest." she whispered, guiding a hand to the girl's face, and  
pulling the covers over her. The girl acquiesced, obviously fatigued, and her eyes fell  
closed, perhaps without even her consent. Delilah then backed away, when the hallway  
echoed encroaching footfalls within it's length and she slipped through the open window  
as if a wraith, quickly disappearing from where she had come.  
  
The door opened to an empty room, and the girls' mother looked around before entering,  
almost seeming to sense a presence other than her daughter. She noticed the window was  
wide open and she quickly walked over and closed it, then turned to her daughter, who  
was still partially awake.  
  
"Mom?" she asked, still blind, betrayed by her eyelids that would not lift as much as she  
tried.  
  
"It's okay, baby, it's only me." the mother answered softly, settling herself tenderly upon  
the side of the bed.  
  
"I saw...an angel..." Jessica murmured, forming a sweet smile.  
  
Her mother attempted to force her lips into a matching grin, but could not find the  
strength. She and her husband had decided not to tell their daughter of her impending  
fate, hoping that her last days would be filled with a happiness she could carry with her  
into the next world. Yet she knew, as did her husband, that their young child had  
suspected what would soon befall her, and perhaps she was hoping for a miracle from  
above. An expectation that could ultimately break her heart. "It was just a dream,  
honey, go back to sleep."  
  
"But I saw her...she was...beautiful..."  
  
"I know." her mother whispered, placing a gentle kiss to the child's forehead. "I know.   
All angels are beautiful."  
  
****************************************  
  
July 10th  
"But mom, I saw her!" Jessica argued intently, as her mother slowly shook her head, and  
her father merely smiled at an overactive imagination still untouched by the cancer  
afflicting her.  
  
"You were only dreaming, Jessica." her mother fought back, trying to sway a dangerous  
fantasy before it bloomed into something that would only cause her more pain. "Nothing  
more."  
  
The small girl looked down to her lap, bathed in the purest of scarlet fire from the setting  
sun beyond her room. She looked almost despondent, in having her angel being  
explained as only a figment of her subconscious. "But I saw her..." she whispered  
coarsely. "She had white hair and...and white wings...she told me to rest..."  
  
"It was only a dream, sweetie," remarked her father, resting on the back of his chair,  
"sometimes the cancer can cause some weird images in your head, and in your dreams.   
She wasn't real."  
  
She looked back to the dissolving sun, melting into the horizon ever so slowly, and  
reflecting in the azure ocean of her eyes. "I know..."  
  
****************************************  
  
With the tiniest of cracks, climbing their way up her form of granite, she was released  
into the dusky remnants of sunlight, streaming across the distant skyline. Delilah  
screamed her awakening, and shook off the last off her stone shards, stretching her wings  
to cast off the long hours of sleep, and preparing them for the flight about to be taken.  
  
"Delilah?" a voice called out to her. It was Shadow, appearing behind her, and  
approaching her quickly before the chance to flee presented itself.  
  
"What?" she asked bluntly.  
  
"Where are you going? You have been disappearing for days now, just as we awaken,  
without any word to your whereabouts."  
  
"Since when do I have to inform you of where I'm going, every single time I leave this  
castle?" she hissed back, whirling around to face the stunned warrior. "My life is my  
own."  
  
"But, my blossom, please..."  
  
"Spare me the blossom garbage!!" she screamed, her infuriated rant catching the ears of  
the entire clan, even Goliath above. "I'm not your little pet, to do with want you want,  
whenever it pleases you!"  
  
Shadow's brow lowered, almost concealing his dark mahogany eyes from her view. He  
stepped forwards, and Delilah finally realized just what words had spilled from her  
mouth, due to the wracking pain always present in her chest. "I beg your pardon." he  
growled, now right beside the cornice she was standing upon. Even on the stone ledge,  
she barely towered over him, and even now, she feared him. "I have never held you back  
from living your life the way you see fit. I have never impeded you in any way. I  
accepted you into my arms every single time. I have now stood back, and watched as the  
woman I love is being torn apart by something she won't even tell me about. Your  
privacy is just that, your own. But when it threatens to destroy this relationship that we  
have built, that is when I need to act." He grasped upon her arm forcefully, yet gently,  
and held her in place. "I am asking you, as the man who shares your bed, what is  
wrong?"  
  
"You could never understand." she whispered, though her eyes softened to his deep,  
seductive gaze.  
  
"Try me."  
  
"I'm sorry, but this is something I have to work out on my own. Without you. Now,  
leave me alone." She pulled her arm away the grayish-purple gargoyle, and he relented,  
having heard the absolute finality in her glacial tone. She turned to leave, and as Shadow  
stood by and looked on helplessly, she threw herself into the wind, and flew away from  
him.  
  
The rest of the clan watched as the dark warrior repressed his anger in a visible shudder,  
until he simply turned and stalked through the assembled crowd, barging through the  
heavy wooden barrier to the interior of the castle as if it was never even there.  
  
Goliath, having witnessed the entire heated affair between the two lovers from on his  
tower, sighed and shook his head. He too, was growing worried of his adoptive  
daughter's attitude. And what had just transpired before his onyx glare, clinched what  
Elisa had informed him about several days ago. As Delilah finally disappeared from his  
range of vision, he knew something would have to be done soon, or perchance what she  
has been carrying within her, would tear this couple apart.  
  
****************************************  
  
"We're just going home to get some clean clothes. We'll try to be back in an hour. Are  
you sure you don't want one of us to stay?"  
  
"No, mom. Now go already." Jessica ordered playfully, annoyed that her parents have  
been shadowing her every move, and would never give her a moment's peace. "Take as  
long as you want..."  
  
Her mother scowled and attempted to fight back when pushed from the room by Jessica's  
father. The door clicked closed, and the small girl was left alone, possibly what she  
wanted all along. She thought maybe she would read, or just watch the television, but  
instead she sat in silence, slumping back against the pillows. She stared at the farthest  
wall, running through her mind her situation. She knew her parents were holding back,  
she noticed how every doctor and nurse was always so cordial to her, going out of their  
way to make her as comfortable as possible. She knew something was wrong with her,  
as soon as they suspended the numerous tests and attempts to cure her cancer. "I'm  
going to die..." she whispered to herself, her vision blearing, becoming obscure with her  
tears.  
  
She watched as the drops of liquid cascaded down her pale complexion, and the young  
girl bury herself within the embrace of her sheets. As if she could feel the pain  
emanating from this frail being, Delilah could hold back no longer, and pushed the  
window from her path.  
  
Jessica did not see her until the gargess was right at the edge of the mattress, and only  
when her wings rustled, releasing the strong aroma of an ocean saline from the fluttering  
membranes, did she turn to see the white-winged woman standing over her.  
  
"Hello." Delilah whispered.  
  
The young girl stared wide-eyed to the gargoyle, roaming her wide stare to the streams of  
platinum hair falling over a slim face and slender shoulders, and almost completely  
covering the form's right eye. She fluffed her wings a few times and settled them about  
her shoulders, forcing a small rush of wind directly into Jessica's face. "I-It's you...are  
you...are you...a-an angel?" she asked timidly.  
  
"No." Delilah responded. "I'm a gargoyle."  
  
Though disappointed her angel was not what she seemed, the small child immediately  
brightened when actually discovering just what had entered into her hospital room. "A  
gargoyle?!" she cheered. "Oh wow! Like from the T.V. I knew you were real, and I've  
always wanted to meet one of you! Well, you still look like an angel."  
  
"Thank you." the she-goyle replied, attempting to force down her blush.  
  
"My name's Jessica Howell. What's yours?"  
  
"Delilah."  
  
"Wow, that's a cool name." Jessica cried out, inching her way as close as possible to  
where her angel was standing. "Do you have a last name?"  
  
"Uh...yeah, but...I can't tell you."  
  
Jessica sunk back a little. "Why not?"  
  
"Because some of my family is human, and if anyone finds out who they are and that  
they know gargoyles, they may be hurt."  
  
"I promise I won't tell anyone." Jessica pleaded, still peering to every inch of the  
gargoyle with her sapphire eyes. "Honest."  
  
"All right. It's Maza. Delilah Maza."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Delilah sat down beside the girl, who darted her eyes from her wings to her attire, and  
even to the swaying tail behind her. "Why aren't you afraid of me?"  
  
Jessica seemed confused at the question asked of her. "Why would I be afraid?" she  
answered, hesitantly reaching out a hand to Delilah's right wing. "Can I touch them?"  
  
Delilah smiled, and her wings released from their position in a sudden flash, enough so to  
cause Jessica to squeal in a laughable fright.  
  
"Wow, they're so soft..." the small girl exclaimed softly, running her small fingers along  
the velvet membranes, almost glowing in the florescent lights of the room. "So what's it  
like being able to fly?"  
  
"I can't really fly, only glide on the currents." Delilah started, enjoying the tender  
massage that Jessica's excited pawing of her wings created. "It's wonderful. The  
ultimate feeling of freedom. The wind in your face, the ability to soar above the highest  
rooftops."  
  
"I hate heights." commented Jessica, as she quickly pulled her hands away, and focused  
her eyes back to her large bed, and her prison. "Besides, even if I did get over my fear,  
I'd probably never be well enough to get out of this bed."  
  
Delilah's smile fell away, and she brought a taloned finger beneath Jessica's chin, lifting  
her eyes back up to met hers. "Can I ask you something?" she inquired of her new friend,  
and Jessica nodded. "Why...are you in this hospital?"  
  
"I'm...sick." the young girl choked. "I have cancer...in my brain, and mom says they  
can't operate or I'll...die. I don't want to die..."  
  
Delilah felt the tears rush over her hand, and at once, with a maternal instinct, pulled the  
small girl against her chest, allowing Jessica to clutch onto her and release her sobs onto  
her chest.  
  
"I'm usually too weak to even stand, and...and I sleep a lot. So I stay in this...b-bed, and  
read, and stuff..." she muffled her slurred words into the tight fitting leotard stretched  
over Delilah's curvy form. "I'm scared, Delilah. I...I don't want to die."  
  
"I know. It's okay to be scared." Delilah calmed her, in a voice so much like her own  
mother, Elisa.  
  
Jessica steadied her breathing and tried to wipe the tears away. "I'm sorry for crying..."  
  
"It's okay to cry too." she whispered into Jessica's ear, pulling the girl as close to her as  
possible. "It helps to get it all out." This child, whom she met less than ten minutes ago,  
now clenched her fingers into her flesh, holding on for dear life. A small girl who was an  
embodiment of the child she so wanted, and could not have.  
  
"Thanks, Delilah." Jessica pulled from the gargoyle, and cleared the tears from her eyes,  
forming a crooked smile, embarrassed that she unloaded herself onto her new friend.   
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"Don't be. That's what friends are for, aren't they?"  
  
Jessica only smiled, and grasped onto the clone's taloned hands. "Yeah...so, can you tell  
me more about your family?"  
  
****************************************  
  
July 11th  
"Delilah!!" Jessica cried out happily, practically throwing her book to the floor, and  
watching as her gargoyle friend slipped through the window, left purposely open by the  
young girl, hoping that her winged companion would visit her once more. Especially  
after having talked with her for over an hour before her parents returned and Delilah had  
to escape before being discovered.  
  
The clone looked wearily around her, before casting her brown eyes to the beaming girl.   
"I saw your parents leave. I take it's okay to come in?"  
  
"Yeah. Mom and dad are down in the cafeteria getting something to eat. Finally." she  
huffed, forming a pout with her fawning lips. "I'm glad you came back."  
  
"You're my friend. But," her tone became serious rather abruptly, "if you enjoy  
company, why do your send your parents away to eat?"  
  
"Because they're always hanging around me. I want them to at least spend some time  
outside of this room, instead of watching me di..." she paused, suppressing a labored  
sigh.  
  
"Hey," Delilah graced her cheek with a soft hand, "I don't wish to see you sad. And I  
enjoy that smile of yours. Can I see it again?"  
  
Jessica couldn't help but to tug the corners of her mouth into a weak grin.  
  
"Much better."  
  
"So, why are you back?"  
  
"Do I need a reason to visit my friend?"  
  
Jessica shrugged innocently. "You've been here three days in a row now, and said you  
were watching me for a while before that. It's almost like you don't want to be  
somewhere else."  
  
Delilah pulled back, shocked at this young girl's astute senses, and just how right she  
was. "You're good." she breathed solemnly, this time her own saddened frown catching  
her friend's attention. "It's not somewhere that I don't want to be, it's someone...who I  
just...can't be around right now..."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
Delilah rose from the bed, and Jessica noticed the snow-white wings close in around her.   
She paced the length of the room in an unsteady motion, before stopping directly in front  
of her, and forcing a chocolate glare her way. "My...boyfriend."  
  
"Oh. You barely spoke about him last night. Did you guys, uhm...have a fight?"  
  
"More like...I yelled at him, for absolutely nothing..."  
  
"Oh." Jessica looked down, unsure she should continue her line of questions into a topic  
that obviously brought her great pain. But her curiosity about this wondrous creature  
standing before her, and everything she had not told her last night, needed to be satiated.   
"What...what's his name?" she asked, as Delilah had precariously avoided mentioning  
the dark warrior she loved in almost every question asked of her, in the hour and a half  
interrogation by Jessica the previous evening.   
  
Delilah smiled slightly. "Shadow." She slowly edged closer to the bed, arms still  
crossed beneath her generous chest. She found Jessica's eyes still peering upon her,  
expecting something more than just his name, and she yielded to her longing gaze. "He's  
seven feet, four inches tall, has dark, grayish-purple skin, long white hair tied back into a  
braid, and has bulging muscles on every single part of his body. He has large spikes on  
his shoulders, knees and elbows, spurs on his brow in kind of like a V-shape, and has the  
two biggest, blackest wings ever."  
  
Jessica's eyes nearly erupted from her head, as her vivid imagination formed the picture  
of the dark warrior, and she found her heart beating in a much faster rhythm. "Whoa.   
Sounds scary."  
  
"No, no..." Delilah quickly perched herself back on the bed, to dispute what perhaps her  
young friend had pictured her lover to be. "He's...he's the most gentle, caring, tender,  
understanding man I've ever met. He's a karate killing machine yeah, but..." Delilah  
looked away, her eyes glazing over when her gargoyle love filled her foremost thoughts.   
"He plays the flute, he enjoys reading poetry, he always relents to the movie of my  
choice, and even though I know he hates it, he still doesn't say a word and watches it  
with me. He's always there to listen to my problems..." Delilah turned away, hoping the  
hanging strands of white hair flowing over her shoulders, would hide from Jessica's  
view, the tears that menaced her eyes. "I love him...so much..."  
  
"Then why did you have a fight?" Jessica asked, without any an idea of what could be  
actually be consuming her friend's very soul.  
  
"Because of something that's happened to me..." she whispered in an abraded gasp.   
"Because..."  
  
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." Jessica whispered, placing a  
diminutive hand on her wing.  
  
"No..." Delilah whirled around, and flicked away the falling tress of ivory shine. "I have  
to tell someone. I've kept this in for so long, and I've hurt the man I love because I  
couldn't deal with it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I went to see my doctor, and he told me...that I could never...have children..."  
  
Jessica's eyes went wide, seeing what this spilled secret had done to her friend, taken a  
beautiful winged angel and twisted her features into a saddened wreck. It seemed her  
pain was almost as great as her own, and now her friend had been reduced to a crying  
whelp. "But...what about the future that you told me about?" she squeaked, trying  
anything to cheer her spirits, and alleviate her pain. "You said you would have a  
daughter..."  
  
"That future is wrong!" Delilah snapped, as the girl jerked back, seeing the crimson glow  
of her eyes flare up suddenly. "I don't know why I even told you about it. I'm sterile,  
and I'll never have children." She noticed Jessica recoil from her, and sighed. "I'm  
sorry, Jessica. I'm so sorry...it's just...it hurts. I was so happy in hearing that Shadow  
and I would have a daughter, but when Dr. Pierce came through that door, with that look  
on his face...all my dreams were destroyed with a single test result."  
  
"But the future Trinity..."  
  
"Came from an alternative future. My future may not turn out the same."  
  
"But why would she tell you," started Jessica, her mind effectively working though the  
amount of information gathered, "if it wasn't possible for you to have children?"  
  
Delilah looked at her young friend, with her eyes pleading, and her mouth gaped.   
"I...don't know."  
  
"Maybe she told you about your daughter...so you wouldn't give up. So you would fight  
to find a way to finally have children."  
  
Delilah looked stunned, her thoughts racing back to the night when this twenty year old  
hybrid from another time appeared before them, and shattered her world with news of a  
daughter to be born in her near future. "Maybe..." Delilah muttered, trembling violently,  
as a frigid shiver passed through her.  
  
"Maybe...you should go back and talk to Shadow," Jessica spoke softly, "it helps to talk  
with people about your pain. I know. My mom and dad helped me, when the doctor told  
us I was sick. I wanted to be alone, when I first learned I had cancer, but they helped me,  
took some of the pain away. If you say that Shadow is as caring and understanding as  
you say, he can help you with your pain."  
  
"How can I face him?" asked Delilah desperately. "How can I tell him that we can never  
have children? He'll want nothing to do with me...he'll think I'm just the freak I always  
was. A broken doll with mismatched parts."  
  
"No! You're not like that! You're not a freak!" Jessica yelled out, seeing her angel cast  
down in pain. "You're beautiful, funny, nice. If Shadow really is the way you described  
him, than I know he loves you too, for who you are. He'll understand. It's not your fault  
you can't have children, like it's not my fault I have cancer. It...just happens. And we  
have to be strong. We can't ever give up..."  
  
Delilah forced a smile through her sorrow, and leaned forward to brush Jessica's cheek  
with her hand, and found herself connecting on a level beyond simple friendship.   
"You're a very smart little girl, you know that?"  
  
"Thanks." she answered back, before grasping the side of her head, and grimacing due to  
a wave of sheer pain surging through her.  
  
"What's wrong?" Delilah asked worriedly.  
  
"Just...another headache...from the cancer..." she replied through the intense anguish,  
clenching her eyes shut, and attempting to ride through the migraine with a brave front.  
  
"What the hell are you?!!" an enraged voice rang out, catching the attention of both  
young women, causing them both to whirl around to the door. "And what are you doing  
to my daughter?!!" It was Jessica's father, standing near the entranceway, eyes burning  
with fury in seeing this winged beast perhaps attacking his child in her private room.  
  
"I'm not here to harm her, I promise you," Delilah quickly stood up from the bed and  
attempted to calm the man, "I'm a friend."  
  
"Get away from her!! She's suffered enough without having some freak of nature hurting  
her!!"  
  
"Daddy, no!" Jessica screamed. "She's my friend!!"  
  
The man pulled a chair from the floor, holding it up in clenched fists as a weapon. His  
wife slipped in behind him, gasping in shock at seeing the young cloned gargoyle, slowly  
edging towards the window. "Get out!! Now!!" He raised the chair higher to prove his  
point, that he would defend his daughter to the bitter end.  
  
"No, please, I'll leave..." Delilah resigned her place, and stepped through the window  
frame, passing saddened eyes to the young girl.  
  
"No...Delilah, wait!" she pleaded for her friend to return, but it was already too late.   
Delilah had spread her wings and heeded the wind, slipping away from the hospital room,  
and the small child's hands. "Please...don't go..."  
  
Her father rushed to her side, and pulled her into his arms. "Are you okay? What did  
that...that thing do to you?"  
  
"Nothing. Except make me happy..." she whispered, as she felt her mother's hands  
caress her long cinnamon locks.  
  
"But she was one of those...those...gargoyle things..."  
  
"No, daddy...she was my angel."  
  
****************************************  
  
July 14th  
Almost three days had passed since Delilah's last trip to the hospital, and she wondered  
just how her friend was faring in her desperate fight for life. She wanted so much to see  
her, as the pain she constantly carried softened some when in Jessica's presence. She  
walked the length of the battlements, a slender shadow bathed in the cerulean light of a  
languidly descending crescent moon, filling the entire sky with a perfect semi-circle. She  
skipped along the cornice structure, hopping from roost to roost, traveling more than half  
the distance of the East wall, and continuing back again in a pensive pace.  
  
A dark specter passed overhead, and Delilah lifted her gaze to a massive winged shape  
directing itself to a far turret. Shadow had arrived home from his patrol, and landed with  
a resounding thump in front of the door leading into his private chambers. He turned  
slowly, as if knowing she was there, across the castle from him, and directed his  
unearthly stare to her alone. They locked eyes, until Shadow abruptly swiveled around  
and blew through his door in a mad rush, if only to escape from the sight of her.  
  
Delilah's very spirit fell, knowing she had caused him this pain. She balanced on a  
granite perch, teetering ominously on the edge of the highest building in the world, and  
with just a stray gust, could be pushed into the course of total oblivion. As was her life  
now. She felt as if on a precipice, for on one side, lay the torment she was forced to face,  
and on the other, the strength of her friends, family and loved ones, those who would  
help her. If only she could find the courage to begin the journey.  
  
Delilah immediately jumped into the awaiting hands of the swirling winds, and guided  
herself towards the hospital, and her friend. She needed help, and perhaps from only one  
person in this world, a young child forced to combat a disease taking hold of her body.   
Delilah admired her strength, and wondered just where she found the power to keep the  
fight alive, to keep her spirits high, to keep smiling in the very face of death itself.  
  
****************************************  
  
In a spiraled current, she landed, settling her wings and calming her wild hair back into  
place. The drapes were open to the sight of her friend, and as Delilah peered in, she  
found a disturbing sight. Jessica was lying motionless in her bed, with an I.V. running  
into her right arm and a heart monitor clipped to her index finger. Her friend's skin tone  
had paled considerably, having turned a frightening white, devoid of any life or vitality.   
Delilah pressed herself closer to the glass, barely being able to detect a slight tempo of  
the sheets rising and falling due to the labored breathing of her small friend.  
  
She looked around for any sign of her parents, and attempted to pull back the window,  
but found it had been locked. Most likely after Jessica's father had discovered the clone  
talking with her daughter. With her great gargoyle strength, she forced the window to  
slide open, breaking the latch, and stepped in.  
  
She rushed to Jessica's side, her back facing the door leading outside due to the  
monitoring equipment on the opposite edge of the bed, and grasped gently onto the  
youth's hand. "Hi, Jessica." she whispered serenely, hoping this girl would open her eyes  
for her, yet she remained as a corpse. "I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but I didn't  
think your parents would want me here. I just needed to see you again. I don't know  
what to do anymore..." She brushed away the strands of Jessica's hair clinging to her  
small face, and swallowed deeply. "Every time I see him, I can see the pain in his eyes.   
Pain that I caused. I don't know...how to tell him...I don't want him to hate me, I don't  
want him to stop loving me..." Delilah collapsed onto the bed beside her friend, fighting  
back the onslaught of tears threatening to spill from her eyes and onto Jessica's limp  
body. "Jessica? Jessica?"  
  
"She may not wake up," a soft tone echoed behind the gargess, "she's been like this for  
almost a day now."  
  
Delilah whirled around to see Jessica's mother standing behind her, a steaming cup of  
coffee in her hand.  
  
"I just went to get coffee..." she explained, gradually walking closer to the very nervous  
clone. "So, you're Delilah..."  
  
"I-I'll leave now..." she whispered, attempting to vacate the room.  
  
"Please stay." the mother said quickly, before the limber female could escape. "Jessica  
would appreciate it. She wouldn't stop talking about you after that night."  
  
Delilah turned around to see the older woman pulling a chair to her daughter's side, and  
sipping her coffee, all the while never taking her eyes off the bedridden girl. "What's  
happened to her?"  
  
"It's the cancer. It's spread, and she's in what the doctors call a deep sleep, almost a  
coma." she said mournfully. "They said it's the final stage of her disease, and that  
she...may not wake up..."  
  
Delilah advanced closer. "You're not afraid of me?"  
  
"Not anymore. Not after everything Jessica told me about you. Her father and I thought  
you were a dangerous...monster, until she convinced us otherwise. She usually has a  
vivid imagination, but what she related to us about you and your race, and in such detail,  
we knew she wasn't lying."  
  
"She wasn't. Gargoyles are protectors."  
  
"I know that now, and I know you were Jessica's friend."  
  
"She's my friend too." Delilah replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. "She's been  
helping me in a...difficult time in my life."  
  
"She has a special ability," said her mother, allowing her a small chuckle, "to take away  
your pain...to always make you feel better." The elder woman clicked her eyes to the  
gargess, and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry for the other night, my husband didn't mean to  
yell at you."  
  
"It's okay. My kind...get that a lot. He was angry and..."  
  
"No, he's not like that. He's a very gentle man, he's just...this is his little princess. She  
means the world to him, and he's so protective of her. They have a special bond, and  
now, she's dying. And he's having trouble dealing with that...we both are..."  
  
"Where is he?" she asked hesitantly, still slightly afraid of this man who threatened her  
very safety in a blind rage to protect his daughter.  
  
"I made him get some sleep. He's been up for more than forty hours, either reading to  
her, or sitting by her side."  
  
Delilah looked back at Jessica. "Will she ever...wake up?"  
  
"We don't know. The doctors are sure she may...die in the next couple days..." she  
trailed off, choking back her torment, and nearly spilling her coffee in her trembling  
hands.  
  
Delilah's bottom lip quivered as she attempted to force her words from a constricted  
throat. "I hope...I at least get to say goodbye. She's become...a cherished friend to me."   
The clone reached out to stroke her talons across Jessica's arm, grabbing ahold of the  
small girls' hand to give her a reassuring squeeze. She flicked her eyes to the brightening  
sky outside the window, and knew dawn was approaching soon. "I have to leave..."  
  
Jessica's mother looked up. "Are you sure? I know she would appreciate having you  
here."  
  
"My kind has to sleep during the day, we can't really control it." Delilah clarified her  
situation. "And my home is kind of far from here. But I promise I'll be back right after  
sunset."  
  
"All right."  
  
Delilah flashed a smile, and took off towards the window.  
  
Jessica's mother watched her spread the gleaming ivory wings and soar away, and then  
turned her focus to her comatose daughter. She would stay by her side until the sun rose  
and took it's rightful place in the sky, without any mind to hide her sweeping tears,  
before her husband awakened and joined her to wipe them away with his gentle kiss.  
  
****************************************  
  
July 15th  
The warmth of the sun had left a lasting impression upon the air above the city buildings,  
as Delilah cast her wings to their farthest reach to increase her speed, heading straight for  
the hospital as fast as she could, to check on her young friend's condition. As the  
building grew increasingly closer, she hoped she would see Jessica's smiling face and her  
glistening eyes, welcoming her presence into her room.  
  
She literally slammed into the building's side, and crawled her way to the window, the  
open window. Expecting to see the twelve year old girl, Delilah's smile instantly  
disappeared when faced with an empty bed. She tore open the window, and jumped  
through, running to the bed's side. The sheets had been replaced, and neatly made up, as  
if no one had ever been here. "Oh no..." Delilah gasped, frantically scanning around her  
for any trace of Jessica's belongings. Nothing remained, only a barren room, and a  
deathly silence. "Oh please no...please..." Delilah was in tears now, fearing the worst.   
"Where is she?!"  
  
"Oh...y-you must be...Delilah..."  
  
Delilah turned to see a young nurse having stopped in her tracks when she found the  
young gargoyle searching the room. "Where is she?!" she screamed. "Where's  
Jessica?!!"  
  
"I'm sorry," the nurse whispered softly, "but Jessica...died this morning."  
  
Delilah's very breath halted in her lungs, and she stumbled backwards to the bed, hitting  
the steel railing alongside and ultimately collapsing to the floor. She burst out crying,  
stamping her closed fists onto the white tiles. Her wings closed in around her, barely  
containing the wailing cries from coursing into the room, echoing upon every wall.   
"No...nooooo!! Please, God...she didn't deserve this...she was just a girl!! A beautiful  
girl..."  
  
The nurse found herself walking closer and kneeling down to rub a hand soothingly about  
her shoulders. "She...she went peacefully," the nurse explained, trying to help the young  
clone in her uncontrollable sobbing, "you can take solace in knowing she felt no pain in  
her final hours..."  
  
"She was so innocent...so precious..." Delilah continued her heart-broken pleas, coating  
the floor around her with her warm tears. "No child deserves to die, especially not  
Jessica..."  
  
"She's in a place where she feels no suffering. She's not hurting anymore, she's free of  
her cancer now."  
  
Delilah finally directed her tear-stained eyes to the young nurse, who smiled down on  
her. "Who...how did you...know my name?"  
  
The nurse stood up and reached to a table where she grabbed a piece of paper, and  
treating it like crystal, she gently delivered it into Delilah's hands. "Jessica drew it a  
couple days ago."  
  
Delilah looked upon the paper, it was a drawing the young girl had made, a masterpiece  
in colorful pencil crayon. There stood Delilah, and Shadow, and a smaller winged girl  
with both of their features. "My best friend, Delilah, and Shadow, and," Delilah nearly  
broke down again, "...her daughter...Silhouette." Jessica had brought every description  
given to her by Delilah about her future offspring, to incredible lifelike accuracy, and the  
clone nearly drenched the drawing with her tears.  
  
"Turn it over..." the nurse told her quietly.  
  
Delilah complied, and found a message scrawled in bright purple pencil crayon. "Never  
give up hope...oh, Jessica..."  
  
"That's how I knew you," the nurse cut in, "Jessica showed me this just after she had  
finished it. She was so proud, proud that she knew a real life gargoyle."  
  
"Y-You know what I am?"  
  
"I'm a member of P.I.T., and I've always wanted to meet a gargoyle as well," she helped  
the gargoyle to her feet, "especially one who meant so much to a special little girl."  
  
"I should have been there for her, but I couldn't. Gargoyles...turn to stone in the sun."   
Delilah released more tears, cursing her enforced sleep in keeping her from her friend  
when she needed her the most. "I couldn't be here..."  
  
"But you were," replied another voice, "you were here in spirit, and Jessica knew that.   
Even up to the moment of her death." It was Jessica's mother, appearing through the  
doorway, with her husband behind her. "You gave her your friendship, your generosity.   
You allowed her to live a dream of meeting a gargoyle. It was you who gave her true  
happiness in her last days of life."  
  
"I could have done more to help her, perhaps...gotten her some help...from my friends..."  
  
"She knew she was dying," said her father, in a trembling voice, "she knew she had little  
time left, no matter what lies we told her to try and protect her. What she needed most,  
was exactly what you gave to her. Laughter, delight, a fantasy come true."  
  
Delilah avoided her eyes to the man, who seemed ashamed of his actions some nights  
ago. "I'm so sorry..."  
  
"No. It's me who should be apologizing...to you," he quickly broke through, approaching  
her in a quick tread, "for yelling at you, for almost attacking you. I thought you were  
hurting her, and now...I know different. It was you who kept her spirit alive. I should be  
thanking you, for everything you've done. But," he looked down, his red-tinted eyes  
concealed behind his own tears of pain, "I don't know how I can ever apologize to you,  
for my words..."  
  
Delilah stretched out her hand and grasped his, pressing tight to his warm flesh, and he  
responded in kind. "This...is a start."  
  
****************************************  
  
"I should be going now," said Delilah as she lifted from her chair, "my family  
is...probably worried about me, and it's time I told them, told Shadow, about what has  
happened to me."  
  
Jessica's mother rose up, along with her husband, to impart their newfound friend with  
their farewells, and followed her to the window. "Thank you, for everything you've  
done. I'll let you know when the service is, and where Jessica will be buried."  
  
"You have the number to the castle. And I'll be sure to visit."  
  
"We hope so." replied Jessica's father. "Friends?" he asked slyly, holding out his hand,  
and watching as Delilah excitedly grabbed it.  
  
"Always."  
  
"There's something else you should know before you go back to Shadow, Delilah,"  
Jessica's mother caught her before she could leave, "when we were trying to have  
Jessica, the doctors told us we could never conceive, and then, three years later, she was  
born." She watched Delilah smile at this news of great optimism. "She was our miracle  
child, and I know that you'll find a way to have your own child as well."  
  
"Goodbye, and thanks." The gargess climbed through the window, and with one last  
wave of her hand, flew off into the night.  
  
The couple held each other for a very long time, each of them there to help the other in  
their pain, their torment of losing their daughter to the hands of death. And they knew,  
their baby girl was now looking down upon them, and would live within them for the rest  
of their lives.  
  
****************************************  
  
As her new home fell into view, she thanked herself a million times over that her family  
was healthy and well. Delilah had cried the entire flight home, arms wrapped around the  
drawn picture, clutching it to her chest, a cherished memory of her friend taken from her  
life too early. The cornices of Wyvern were a welcome sight, and she increased her pace  
to bring herself to their comforting embrace as quickly as possible.  
  
She aimed for the courtyard, and surprisingly, found two figures walking out to greet her.   
It was Elisa, and Shadow. She landed, and stood motionless, as her mother and lover  
remained a few feet away from her, looking to her with inquiring eyes. Shadow moved  
to open his mouth, and perhaps call to her, but never had the chance as Delilah skipped  
over and jumped into his arms, wrapping herself around him.  
  
"Delilah?" he asked, worried that his blossom had arrived home in tears. "What has  
happened?"  
  
Delilah pulled back and stared at him for a moment, until pressing his lips to his mouth,  
and kissing him for all it was worth, suckling on his luscious flavor. She held him there  
in her passionate embrace, until she jerked back and left him with a dumbfounded  
expression. "I love you."  
  
"And I you." he replied, stunned, and dropping her to the ground. "But what has  
happened? Why are you crying?"  
  
"I...lost a friend tonight."  
  
"Who, Delilah?" Elisa stepped forward, and placed a hand to her daughter's shoulder.  
  
"Her name was Jessica, and she was helping me with...something painful, that caused me  
to lash out at the man I love." She directed both the statement, and her sorrow filled eyes  
to the dark warrior. "I only pushed you away, Shadow, to prevent you from getting hurt."  
  
"I still don't understand." Shadow asked softly, grasping both her hands in his massive  
paws. "What has happened?"  
  
"Let's go inside, and I'll tell you both."  
  
****************************************  
  
"...and we vowed to remain friends." Delilah finished up her story, perched on her bed  
beside Elisa, with Shadow leaning against the desk across from them. He was silent,  
staring down at the carpet, arms crossed, no discernible emotion present on his dark,  
etched features. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Shadow, that I can't have children. It  
was...just too hard."  
  
"Oh, Delilah. I'm so sorry," Elisa soothed her daughter, snaking an arm around her, "but  
we'll find an answer. Dr. Pierce is one of the best doctors in the country, especially in  
gargoyle physiology. If anyone can help you, it's him."  
  
Delilah nodded, still staring at her speechless boyfriend. "Shadow?" she called out,  
fearing his reaction. "Shadow, please say something..."  
  
He pushed himself from the desk and stepped close to his love. "You are a stubborn  
woman, Delilah Maza," he growled, and she now dreaded hearing what she had so  
feared, that he would perhaps be angry with her, or leave her, "just like your mother."   
Shadow fell to one knee, and grasped both hands to each side of her face, pulling her  
close to him, forcing her to stare into the glimmering pools of mahogany fire. "Do you  
actually think I would ever leave you just because you are unable to carry children? I  
love you, for who you are, and that will never change. Ever. And I will continue loving  
you until I take my last breath. Do you hear me?" Delilah simply nodded, and fell into  
Shadow's arms. He pulled her to his muscular chest, and whispered into her ear, "I never  
had any idea you were thinking of children at this point in our relationship, but I know it  
means a great deal to you. And I promise, that you will see a child of our blood, to raise  
and care for. Trust in your friends to find a way. Trust in the doctors and their medical  
skills. Trust in our love, and know we shall make it through anything that can be thrown  
against us."  
  
"I love you, Shadow." she squeaked, buried in the breadth of his arms.  
  
"I love you, my blossom. Come, it's almost dawn, and we need to sleep. It has been a  
long night, for you especially." Shadow tried to lead her from the room, yet she stopped  
and turned back to Elisa.  
  
"Elisa? The picture Jessica drew for me...could you, uh..."  
  
"I'll have it framed today, and we'll find a place to hang it in your room tonight." Elisa  
quickly answered, picking the drawing from the bed, and taking another look at her  
daughter's friend's artistic skill.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Goodnight, Delilah. I love you, kiddo."  
  
Delilah smiled, her eyes, though rimmed with dark patches beneath, still were an exact  
duplicate of her mother's own wondrous gaze. She held to Shadow's arm, as they headed  
for the battlements.  
  
****************************************  
  
"How do you feel, my blossom?" asked Shadow, as he took to his perch, watching the  
platinum haired clone hop beside him, deciding today to share his place of sleep.  
  
"Okay..." she whispered, and turned away from him, as if hearing something.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Delilah looked around her, a peculiar noise setting upon her great sense of hearing. A  
voice was calling to her, light, cheerful, and very familiar. Delilah looked into the  
courtyard, and upon the lush grass, a form appeared before her. Light brown hair, and a  
lithe figure in a flowing white dress, skipping along the soft earth in a merry gait, taking  
pleasure in her toes grazing across the emerald grass. Delilah smiled, and she gazed  
upon her small friend playing near the massive oak tree. "Jessica."  
  
Shadow looked up, and gasped, in seeing a child, almost translucent, looking at him with  
large eyes of a glowing Prussian blue.  
  
The young girl smiled, and waved to the couple. From her back, a pair of white wings  
blossomed out and opened into an impressive span, allowing a few feathers to descend to  
the ground. With a wink of her eye, she faded away to nothing, leaving only a haunting  
trace of her bubbling laughter, carried on the Summer wind.  
  
"Delilah," Shadow whispered to his love, "who...who was that?"  
  
"Jessica. She's my friend, and she's finally at peace." The sun rose, encasing them  
together in stone, and a single tear traveled down Delilah's statue. A tear of prospect, a  
tear of bliss, and in her dreams, she played joyfully with her young friend, who gave  
more to her than she could ever imagine...hope. 


End file.
